Wesley Korir, who has a good chance at coming in first place in this Sunday's Chicago Marathon, isn’t the type of person who is content with a lifestyle of relaxation.

The 32-year-old Kenyan is already an incredibly successful long-distance runner, winning first place in the Los Angeles Marathon in 2009 and 2010 and the Boston Marathon in 2012, as well as second place in the 2011 Chicago Marathon.

But Korir’s drive and determination may be even more impressive when it comes to being an elected Member of Parliament for Cherangany Constituency in Kenya.

“In 2013 I realized, why is it that Kenya is not changing?” Korir said. “I asked myself that question, ‘Why are we not moving forward?’ And I realized that having bad leaders is what is making us not go anywhere. So I thought, ‘Why not get in?’ Become the change you want to be, that’s the key.”

Korir moved to the United States in 2004 and attended Murray State University, winning the 5000-meter and 10,000-meter races at the Ohio Valley Conference championships. The next year? He transferred to the University of Louisville before setting multiple school records and earning All-American honors consistently throughout his college career.

Korir and his wife, Tarah—who was a former teammate of his at Louisville—founded the Kenyan Kids Foundation. The organization strives to improve education and health care in Kenya, with plans of building a new hospital in Kitale.

Korir’s smile and personality are just as big as his heart. And within just two minutes of meeting him, you can’t help but be in his corner.

I read that you would run five miles to school and—this is the part that makes me laugh—would run five miles back home for lunch, eat, run back to school then back home after school. That’s 20 miles a day. Uh, question: Did you hate the idea of just carrying your lunch to school in the morning?

[Laughs.] You don’t carry lunch to school. That’s why you come back home.

You can’t?

No.

Not like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in a bag?

I used to be that kid that did not want to wake up. So I would always wait until the last minute and then I would rush to school before you get punished by the teacher.

Oh yeah, my manager will tell you that I’m still like that. It’s 11 a.m., where the hell is Sean?

[Laughs.] My mother will tell you that I’m still like that, too. But that helped me a lot [to become a great runner] because I had to rush to get to school.

People in Chicago will wake up at 8:30 a.m. before work and only have to take the train for two stops to get there. But then they’re in a bad mood the rest of the day because, “The train was crowded for two stops!” Like, yeah, life is so horrible for you. Does that make you laugh?

It’s human nature. We complain. We are born to complain.

What do you complain about?

I don’t know. You can ask my wife that. [Laughs.] She’ll give you a list of it.

Oh, I bet.

From my experience, even being in Kenya and being a leader, you find that once you give somebody something, then they complain, ‘Why am I not getting this?’ You give somebody a book, right? You find a kid in the street, and they’ve never had a book before, they’ll ask, ‘Why didn’t you give me a pen, (too)?